How hard is it to become a sales rep for a golf brand?

[Joebautista210_]

Curious to know if anyone on here has worked for or is working for a golf manufacturer? How hard is it to get into a territory role?

[Abh159]

Had a good friend who did it for about 5 years after college. Basically when he graduated he had absolutely no idea what he wanted to do, but he liked golf so it seemed like a good idea. He was a decent junior player and he had a few connections so for him it wasn't that difficult to land a job. I think he worked for a few companies during that time.. Honma and PXG for sure and there may have been a third as well.

 

Long story short he quit after a while. I talked to him about it back then and he said he assumed that he was going to be getting paid to hang out at golf courses and play a lot. When in reality he spent the majority of his time travelling from one demo day (a lot of which were on weekends) to another and very rarely did he actually get to play golf. Also, like most sales jobs his pay was around 95% commission based which can be an issue for a lot of people.

 

All that is to say if you're asking this question because you're considering this job as a career path then I'd offer the two thoughts below:

1. You won't get to play much if any golf during your "work week". The people I know who still work in the golf business play a whole lot less than those I know who have other careers.
2. At the end of the day it's a sales job so you better be a dang good salesman if you plan to make any real money in that line of work. 

[golfinbrad]

Totally agree, especially with #1.  Most get into the golf business in various capacities, because they love the game.  However, the majority of jobs leave you little time to play or like many PGA Professionals, the last place they want to be on their day of is at the course.  That said there are some pretty cool jobs out there.  Like anything else, it is about connections.  Good luck.

[elwhippy]

You need to know the right people. A local guy worked for Hogan and visited a host of great courses. Without getting the chance to play more than a handful. It's a job, not a jolly.

[Bad9]

These are reasons why I would never want to work in the golf industry in any capacity.

[pingfool]

Very few people that work in the industry have time to play a lot of golf.

Firemen and School teachers play a lot of golf

[GHIN n Juice]

Golf industry jobs are like swimming pools, you are better off knowing someone who has one than having one yourself.  I know a few people in the industry and I golf more than 75% of them…combined.  It’s nice for me because I can get some good deals on equipment, but it sucks because I rarely get to play with these guys.

 

From my experience there is only one job in golf that actually allows you to play and that is a greenskeeper or super.  My old crew was off by 3 usually and we played a few rounds a week.